The present invention relates to a device for monitoring a golf equipment inventory in a bag or on a golf course and to a method for keeping an inventory of golf equipment.
One common and expensive problem encountered by golfers occurs when a golfer pulls several clubs from a golf bag in order to ascertain the best club for a shot. At this time, the golfer is not certain of which club is most appropriate until the golfer has studied all of the conditions. Eventually, the golfer selects an appropriate club and drops the other clubs on the ground in order to take his stroke. After making the stroke, the golfer picks up the bag, oblivious in many instances, to the fact that one or more of his or her clubs are still positioned on the ground. The golfer""s forgetfulness becomes apparent when he or she has occasion to select a club he or she has forgotten, only to find it is not in the bag. At this point, the golfer must either retrace his steps, traveling backwards through the course until finding the club, or the golfer must play the rest of the round of golf without the club.
The golf equipment inventory device of the present invention, positionable in or on a golf bag, includes a marker mechanism positionable within a grip shaft of a golf club. The marker mechanism includes in one embodiment, an identification medium unique to a particular golf club. The device further includes one or more mechanisms for sensing removal and return of the golf club from the golf bag by sensing a change in presence of the marker. Each of the mechanisms for detecting a change in the marker presence transmits a signal to a readout mechanism.
The present invention also includes a marker for identifying a golf club to a sensor. The marker includes a shaft and/or an end portion attached to the shaft. The marker is positionable in a grip of a golf club.
In one embodiment of the present invention for use on golf bags enclosing at least one tube for a golf club, the device includes a magnetic sensor affixed to a bottom end or proximally to the bottom end of each tube in the golf bag. The device also includes a mechanism for detecting a signal from the magnetic sensor.
Another embodiment of the device of the present invention includes a plurality of sensors positioned within a golf bag, on an inside or outside surface of the bag. The device also includes a magnetic media that corresponds to a particular sensor bearing coded information. The magnetic media is capable of activating a single sensor of the plurality. The device additionally includes a mechanism for receiving signals from each of the sensors of the plurality.
One other device embodiment utilizes radio frequency identification (RFID) and includes a transponder positionable on or within a golf club. The device also includes a transmitter that is capable of transmitting a radio wavelength at a frequency that activates the transponder. The device further includes a mechanism for relaying to a golfer information that the golf club to which the transponder is positioned is either present or not present in the golf club bag.